The Fading Star
by PhantomsofAngels
Summary: It's been a year since Yoh & co. ended Hao and his ambition once and for all. The shaman tournament begins again. New friends, new enemies...and old faces that aren't wanted! OCx? YohAnna
1. Reunion

**Title: The Fading Star**

**Authors: Phantom'sAngel89, MarHeavenAngel, & Pharaohs Queen**

**Beta Editor: Pharaohs Queen**

**Chapter 1: Reunion**

**Disclaimer: MarHeavenAngel, Pharaohs Queen, nor I own Shaman King. Though as much as we want to….WE DON'T!! The only thing we own are the OC's their Ghosts and weapons….AND THIS PLOT!!**

**Note from the writer: Ok….so most of this story is owned by MarHeavenAngel….so she owns most of the plot since most of it was her idea. Then I contributed a bit and will write the story, and then Pharaohs Queen contributed some ideas too, so therefore 3 people own this story. Plus Pharaohs Queen is a REALLY good beta! So this story will not suck. So before you think….HOLY CRAP THEY HAVE OC'S IN THEIR STORY SO BY TRADITON THEY MUST BE MARY SUES SO THE STORY MUST SUCK!! Uhhh….that is not the case….trust me…..we HATE Mary Sues, so they're won't be any. Every OC have their own faults, and each fault is different then the other to add some spice to the story. And they will not outshine any of the canon characters.**

**(3rd POV)**

"AIEKO! YOUR SISTER HAS BEEN WAITING ON YOU TO GO! HURRY UP!" Aieko's mother cried out.

"COMING!!" Aieko screamed, running down the stairs as fast as she could.

Aieko Isane… She was 16 years old. She had long jet black hair done up in a high pony tail. Her eyes were violet. She was about average height and had fair skin. She wore black fitted pants and a black fitted long sleeve shirt. She wore a purple vest over the shirt that was outlined in black and had on purple flats. She wore a black ribbon around the waist of the vest with a sheathed katana placed in the ribbon belt on her left side.

"Sorry mom… had to get dressed!" Aieko huffed.

"Well, your little sister has been waiting for you!" Her mom cried with impatience.

"I'm going, don't worry." Aieko said, heading down the hallway into the main hall where the front door was. "Shintaro! Let's go!"

"Coming Aieko-dono!" A black suited spirit appeared before Aieko.

He was garbed in the attire of a ninja warrior. His eyes were as black as the clothes he wore. Shintaro has been serving the Isane clan for nearly 1,000 years, serving currently as the guardian ghost of Aieko.

Aieko stepped outside, letting the door close behind her. She looked around and smiled as she spotted a little girl standing under a nearby tree.

"Onee-chan." Her little sister said dully.

Hanashiro Isane. She was 9 years old. She had white hair tied up in a black bow, done up in a high braid, and a black bow to tie her hair off on the bottom of the braid. She, too, has violet colored eyes. She wears a white knee high dress with black lace on the bottom and top of the dress. She has a black ribbon tied around her waist, neck, and around her wrists of the dress. Her shoes are black, and she wears long socks with black ribbons tied around them. She always speaks in a monotone, and is never seen without her teddy bear she always carries in her arms.

"I'm sorry for making you wait Hana-chan." Aieko said apologetically.

"It's alright Onee-chan." Hanashiro replied.

"BAKA! WHY DID YOU MAKE HANASHIRO WAIT!?" The teddy bear demanded.

"Be quiet Oni-kun." Hanashiro said dryly.

Oni is a spirit of an evil demon who possesses the stuffed bear. He is Hanashiro's guardian ghost.

"Hehehe….but of course Okami-san!" He said with a cruel laugh.

"Just keep your trap shut you stupid stuffed demon!" Aieko scowled at the demon hiding under the fuzzy cuteness.

**(Aieko's POV)**

Hana-chan and I went into town. We headed to our favorite sushi restaurant to meet a friend of ours there.

"Where is Ichigo-san?" Hana-chan asked in her usual monotone as we sat down.

"She said she might be a bit late." I said.

"It's hard to believe the time passed so quickly, wouldn't you agree Aieko-dono?" Shintaro asked me.

"Yeah…" I said with a sigh, looking out the dirty glass window.

"_So it's been like__,__ a year since they postponed the Shaman Tournament. I still don't know why they did that. After all, our group overslept during that incident that caused the postponement. I don't know all the details, but I heard that some nutcase tried to take the Great Spirit by force! What an IDIOT! Of course the wacko failed!"_ I thought with a huff.

"AIEKO-CHAAAAAAN!!" I heard a voice scream with incredible giddy glee to it.

I turned and saw none other than my good friend Ichigo Watase. She has short red hair with a strawberry pin in the left side. Her eyes are a deep green. She was wearing the traditional sailor style uniform of her school. The blue sailor collar, blue skirt, white long sleeve shirt and red tie. She has knee high white socks and brown flats. She always carries a paper fan that has a blue and orange ripple design on it. She keeps the fan in her brown purse. She is incredible naïve, a bit of a spaz, and well… really dumb.

"Don't shout like that…it's embarrassing! You sound like you're still in grade school." Said the fox spirit hiding behind Ichigo.

Kyubii was Ichigo's guardian ghost. Like her name suggests, she is a fox spirit with 9 tails….unlike Ichigo, Kyubii is cunning, clever, and sharp….pretty much the opposite of her shaman partner.

"Grade school…but I'm 16, I'm too old to be in grade school silly!" Ichigo said with a laugh.

See what I mean….clueless.

Kyubii sighed with as a fat sweatdrop appeared on her head.

"So, we're leaving tomorrow right?" Ichigo asked, flopping into the chair next to mine.

"Yeah, Hana-chan and I got all our things packed up and ready." I said.

"GREAT! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE OTHERS AGAIN!" Ichigo squealed.

"Me too." I said, smiling.

Just a few days ago the Destiny Star reappeared. Without further notice the shaman council said those who qualified from the preliminaries in the last tournament and still wished to participate, to travel again to America. Patch Village will appear again to those worthy shamans and blah, blah, blah. You get the idea.

"Our order will be here in 2 minutes." Hana-chan said into my thoughts.

"That's so cool! Our little Hana-chan can see the future!" Ichigo said.

"Did you forget that already?" Kyubii asked.

"Hey I'm not good at remembering things!" Ichigo said.

"That's because you have no brain to store thoughts or memories in it." Oni said sarcastically.

"Thank you Oni-kun!" Ichigo beamed.

Everyone stared at her gaped mouthed… except for Hana-chan.

"Ichigo-san… he just insulted you!" Shintaro said.

"Huh? He did?" Ichigo said with a puzzled look.

"Just forget it." I said with a sweatdrop.

-_The next afternoon-_

Hana-chan, Ichigo-chan, our ghosts, and I all finally arrived at the San Francisco airport. To say it was a long flight would be an understatement. We were very pooped, and I just wanted to see the rest of my friends.

"HANA-CHAN! ICHIGO-CHAN! AIEKO-CHAN!" I heard a voice cry.

I turned and saw all our good friends: Meilin Fong, Nakoma Matthews and Iola Morgan.

Meilin was the first to run up and she tackled us with a big hug! Meilin Fong was a 15 year old girl from China. She has blue hair, tied up in a bun on the right side of her head, an orange ribbon tied around it, with a braid that stops to her shoulders coming out of the bottom of the bun. She has two chopsticks in her bun with orange beads at the top. She has orange colored eyes too. She has a sleeveless orange Chinese top that is orange with a blue tie belt and has on blue knee length leggings. She has gloves on they are orange and outlined in blue. Though they are handless gloves they both differ in length. The one on her right arm starts off a few inches off her shoulders, where as the one on her left starts off an inch above her elbow. Her shoes are orange flats meant for battle and she wields a pair of sai that are placed on the right side of her waist through her belt. Her guardian ghosts are twin Chinese dragons named Yin and Yang. Yin is Silver and Yang is gold. They don't talk, but speak apparently to Meilin in her dreams…or that's what she says.

Nakoma came running up next. She gave me a punch in the shoulder and gave Ichigo and Hana-chan a pat on the back. Nakoma is a 17 year old girl who lives here in America. She was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma. She is biracial: half Native American and half Caucasian. She has black hair in a low pony tail and tan skin, but her eyes are a deep green. She wears a Green shirt with a black line going from her neck down to her sleeve. She was wearing regular denim jeans with a black belt. She had on black sneakers outlined in green and black fingerless gloves.

"Greetings Aieko, Ichigo, Hanashiro." Said the Giant bear spirit behind Nakoma.

"How was the flight?" she asked, giving me another punch in the shoulder.

"It was long, but overall, good." I answered.

This bear was Nakoma's guardian ghost. He was a gift from her father. His name is Tomokomo. He rarely talks but is extremely devoted to Nakoma. He looks like a regular Grizzly bear, except he has an eye patch over his left eye…and, duh, he's a ghost.

"HEY IOLA, GET OVER HERE!!" Nakoma yelled over her shoulder.

"I'm coming…" Iola replied in her usual quiet voice.

Iola is 15 years old. Though she was born in America (Boston, Massachusetts to be exact), her family is from Greece. She has short blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears a sky blue halter top outlined in dark blue. Her skirt is a dark blue and so are her shoes. She has ankle high white socks and wears a sky blue headband. She carries a sky blue colored umbrella. Iola always is very timid and shy. She is a bit of a klutz too. She tends to apologize for things she has no relation to, or are in no way her fault. Heck, she says sorry way too much.

Just before she got over to where we were standing she tripped and fell flat on the floor. She shot up and began to--surprise--apologize!

"I'M SO SORRY!! OUR WHOLE REUNION WAS RUINED BECAUSE I'M SO CLUMSY!!" She cried.

"IOLA DEAR! NO, NO, NO!" A beautiful spirit made of water appeared behind Iola. "Stop putting yourself down all the time! Live a little and stop apologizing! Heehee!" chirped the perky water nymph.

Iola's guardian ghost is a water nymph named Undine. She is practically the complete opposite of Iola. Perky, confident, and more graceful… although it's not hard to be more graceful than Iola. But she cares deeply for Iola and wants her to open up to people more.

"I'm sorry." Iola muttered.

"What did I say about apologizing?!" Undine said, slightly annoyed.

"I'm sor-"

"STOP IT!!" Undine exclaimed.

--

"I'll KILL THAT LITTLE CREEP!!" Shintaro yelled.

"Please Shintaro…not now!" I said in a huff.

It had been 2 weeks. We got as far as Colorado, deep in the mountains. We sorta had a run in with the most….CRUDE, ARROGANT, AND EGO-CENTRIC SHAMAN I'VE EVER MET!!

"_The nerve that guy had to…GRRRR!!"_ I screamed in my head.

"Wonder who that man was?" Iola said quietly.

I sat, fuming silently at the spot he had disappeared. He really pissed me off! But, for some reason, I couldn't shake this odd feeling of déjà vu.

Ichigo giggled. "He was pretty cute Aieko-chan! Don't you think he-" The rest of her sentence was cut off with an accurate snowball to the face.

"Can the gushing!" Nakoma snarled. "It's annoying!"

"Agreed!" Oni perked up.

"Be quiet Oni-kun." Hanashiro scolded emotionlessly.

Goosebumps flared up on my neck. I smacked my hand down on my neck and my other fist deep into the snow, Iola's earlier question ringing in my head.

_Just WHO was that guy? It feels like… I've met him before, or something like that!_

Ichigo's loud giggle interrupted my angry thoughts. "Snowball Fight!" She yelled, throwing one back at Nakoma. Soon the air was filled with the cold projectiles.

Suddenly, Meilin's head perked up from underneath a layer of blown –apart snowball. She looked intently at the bottom of the mountains where most of the cabins were.

"Meilin?" Ichigo and Iola said in unison. Nakoma watched, snowball raised, and one eye on Ichigo and her snowball.

"Is something the matter Meilin-san?" Hana-chan asked.

"I sense… something… I know this… feeling." Meilin said.

"What is it Meilin-chan?" I asked, glad of something—_anything­_—to distract my mind.

A large, happy smile stretched across my Chinese friend's face.

"It's… it's… MY DARLING!!" Meilin screamed, running down the mountain at top speed. The only thing left of her was a trail of dust and snow. Her guardians reluctantly dashed in the air after her in spirit ball mode.

"Well, what the crap was that all about?" Nakoma said with a hint of sarcasm in her indifference.

**-END OF CHAPTER-**

**Will the girls find out where Meilin has gone too…and who this "darling" is….and what of this Ego-centric shaman?? Will they tell us who it is?? Find out in the next chapter of "The Fading Star"!! ;D SEE YOU SOON!!**

**Tell me what ya think of our story!! COME ON! I'M DYING TO KNOW!! **

**But all flamers will be burned at the stake…BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!**

**Okami- Mistress**

**Onee-chan- Big sister**

**Chan- honorific, used for girls, children and best friends**

**San-honorific, like Mr., Miss or Ms.**

**Dono- even more honorific then san or sama (sama means like lady, master or lord, and dono can mean that too but it is even more honorific then sama)**

**Baka- Stupid, moron, fool, idiot…depending on who's translating it.**

**Oh and the weapon Meilin wields, **_**Sai**_** is what Raphael from Ninja Turtles uses.**


	2. The Fiancée and Strange Introductions

**Title: The Fading Star**

**Authors: Phantom'sAngel89, MarHeavenAngel, & Pharaohs Queen**

**Beta Editor: Pharaohs Queen**

**Chapter 2: The Fiancée and Strange Introductions**

**Disclaimer: MarHeavenAngel, Pharaohs Queen, nor I own Shaman King. Though as much as we want to….WE DON'T!! The only thing we own are the OC's their Ghosts and weapons….AND THIS PLOT!!**

**A/N: I know we said this before...but our OC's are NOT Mary sues. Ahem...please review...BUT NO FLAMES ALLOWED!!**

**--**

**-Recap-**

"_It's… it's… MY DARLING!!" Meilin screamed, running down the mountain at top speed. The only thing left of her was a trail of dust and snow. Her guardians reluctantly dashed in the air after her in spirit ball mode._

"_Well, what the crap was that all about?" Nakoma said with a hint of sarcasm in her indifference._

_--_

**(3****rd**** POV)**

Many cabins sat peacefully at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in the state of Colorado. Yoh Asakura and his friends found themselves lodging in one of these cabins. It wasn't fancy, just a simple log cabin in the mountains. But it was big enough to satisfy the group.

"What a nice place." Yoh said with a satisfied yawn as he dropped his bag down and flopped onto the green sofa in the living room.

Yoh was now 16. His hair remained the same length, and he still wore those orange headphones like always. But he sported a new outfit made by his fiancée, Anna. Yoh had on black pants, and a short sleeved black undershirt. An orange vest with a black sun on the left side of the vest was worn over the undershirt. He had on a black belt and orange sandals. Yoh's Guardian Ghost appeared before him, the samurai, Amidamaru.

"Carefree as always Yoh-dono?" The samurai spirit smiled.

"Of course Amidamaru." Yoh said, smiling back.

"This cabin is quite cozy." Faust stated as he dropped his bag in the closet behind Yoh.

Faust looked the same as always. Still an eerie looking man, but with a kinder smile. He wore the same clothes he wore the last time in America. Despite his odd appearance, he is 34 years old. Floating behind him was his guardian ghost—his beloved wife, Eliza.

"Indeed, it has a nice atmosphere to it." Ryu stated as he walked in and flopped himself in the chair sitting at the kitchen table. He set his bag down on the ground and smiled back at Faust and Yoh.

Ryu looked the same as well. Sporting the same crazy pompadour and clothing that makes him an Elvis-look alike. Ryu was now 19 years old. His ghost companion, Tokageroh, the lizard spirit, appeared behind Ryu.

"What's the big deal; it's just a wooden house." The lizard spirit said.

"Wow, cool! Isn't it awesome Nii-san?" Pirika exclaimed, pulling her brother in.

Pirika was the younger sister of Horohoro. She is 15 years old. She has sky blue hair, which she cut; it was only about an inch past her shoulders. She has on a hot pink beanie over her head. She wore a long sleeved dark blue shirt and a knee-length hot pink skirt, which had a face of a panda on the bottom left corner of her skirt. She wore white socks and dark blue flats.

"Pirika cut that out! You wanna rip my arm off?!" Horohoro said, annoyed at his sisters pulling.

Horohoro was now 16 years old. His blue hair is spiky, and he wears the same black bandana over his forehead, but with a single bang hanging over it. He wore a black hooded sweater; the hood was lined with white fur on the edges. The jacket had 2 horizontal white lines and a vertical white line, going through the other 2 lines on the bottom right of his sweater. He wore regular faded denim jeans, with a hole on each knee, and wore plain black tennis shoes with white laces.

Horohoro sat down on another green sofa that was next to the sofa that Yoh was relaxing on. Horohoro sighed as he set down his bag and snowboard against the sofa. Pirika giggled and did the same with her bag. Kororo followed after and laid in Horohoro's lap.

"How annoying, I didn't ask for such a lousy size." Anna complained walking in.

Anna is Yoh's fiancée. She is 16 years old. Her blonde hair has grown longer; it almost comes to her waist. She wears the same blue beads that the young itako has always worn. She has on a red tank top, a long black skirt that is knee length, and red sandals.

"I'm sorry if you are displeased Anna-san." Tamao said, following the disappointed woman.

Tamao is 15 years old. Her pink hair has gotten longer as well. It is about 3 inches past her shoulders. She wears a black fitted shirt with a pink heart in the center. Her pants are green, and her sandals are black. Her fox and raccoon companions follow her in as well.

"Tamao, take my stuff for me." Anna demanded.

"Yes Anna-san!" Tamao exclaimed, taking the bag from Anna immediately. She set off to find the bedrooms in order to set her and Anna's things down.

"Manta, get in here." Anna said dryly.

The short 16 year old entered into the lodge soon as he heard his name. Manta still looked the same, had barely grown an inch since his last trip here in America. He wore his same old school uniform.

"Yes Anna-sama?" The boy said.

"I'm thirsty, get me something to drink." Anna demanded dully.

"Huh?" Manta stammered out.

"What was that?" Anna said emotionlessly, as she gave the boy a cold stare.

"RIGHT AWAY ANNA-SAMA!!" Manta screamed as he rushed into the kitchen, checking all the cupboards he could reach for cups.

"Here Manta, let me help you." Ryu got up, feeling sympathy for his short friend.

"HEY REN! I GOTTA A REALLY GOOD ONE THIS TIME!" Chocolove said entering in.

"NOT ANOTHER WORD UNLESS YOU WANNA DIE!" Ren snarled.

Chocolove was the same kid. He was 16 years old and still loved to tell jokes—horrible jokes at that. The African-American still wore his hair in an Afro. Instead of goggles though, he keeps sunglasses just at the top of his head, at his hairline. Chocolove was wearing a dark green sweatshirt, which said the word "Animal" in bold black letters on the back of his sweatshirt. He wore fitted denim jeans, and white tennis shoes, with black laces.

"Oh come on Ren! I got a killer!" Chocolove begged. His guardian, Mick the Jaguar nodded behind him.

"I'LL SHOW YOU KILLER IF YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND UTTER ANOTHER WORD!" Ren threatened.

Ren was the same stubborn guy, as always, with that spiky pointed purple hair. He is 16 years old. Ren wore a long sleeved Chinese martial arts style shirt. It is black with a red dragon coming off the left and coiling to the right of the shirt. He wore black pants and flats, with a yellow tie belt around his waist.

"Please, calm down Botchama!" His spirit, the Chinese general Bason pleaded.

"Honestly Ren… keep your voice down and quit making such a fuss." Jun said as her and Pai-long entered the cabin.

"No one asked for your opinion!" Ren barked at her.

Jun Tao was 18 years old. Her green hair is worn down, and a little bit longer, but not too much. She is wearing a black long sleeve under shirt with green cuffs. She is wearing a black Chinese dress that is outlined in green. She has Green Sakura blossoms on the bottom of the dress, next the long slit on the left side. Her shoes are purple flats.

Jun, Ren and Chocolove set there things down in the closet behind Yoh. Jun went off to find Tamao, and Pai-long, of course, followed. Chocolove and Ren sat down at the kitchen table; they were soon joined by Ryu and Faust. Manta came over and gave Anna her water.

"I'm going to straighten out my room. Manta you're helping me." She said dully, following after Jun and Pai-long.

"Yes ma'am!" Manta said following after Anna.

"How long do we have to wait?" Horohoro said impatiently.

**(Yoh's POV)**

"It can't be helped. We told Lyserg that we would wait for him in this region. He said he'd arrive today." I said, relaxing on the sofa.

"As always, you're too carefree about things!" Horohoro said, annoyed.

"Just as long as he doesn't bring 4 eyes and that tin can, it's fine." Ren said with annoyance.

"TIN CAN!" Chocolove exclaimed holding up a soda can.

Ren then stabbed Chocolove in the nose with his family sword. Chocolove hopped up and down in his chair in pain.

"YOU'RE NOT FUNNY! YOU SHUT UP WITH THOSE ANNOYING—"

Ren stopped right then. His whole body tensed up. His eyes widened as he stared out the window, and he looked… _scared _almost.

"Ren? What's the matter?" I asked.

"Crap!" was all Ren muttered as he ran for the closed window towards my left.

"Ren?" everyone in the room said, confused.

"STUPID THING IS LOCKED! WHY WON'T IT UNLOCK!?" Ren exclaimed, desperately pulling at the window, and trying to unlock it.

"Ren? What's your deal?" Horohoro asked with a suspicious tone.

"SHUT UP YOU! I JUST NEED TO GET OUT, THAT'S ALL!!" Ren screamed.

"But through the window?" Chocolove asked with a confused expression.

"I SAID SHUT UP YOU—"

Ren was cut off in mid sentence as the door flung open.

There was a girl standing in the doorway. She looked Chinese. She had blue hair, tied up in a bun on the right side of her head, an orange ribbon tied around it, with a braid that stops to her shoulders coming out of the bottom of the bun. She had two chopsticks in her bun with orange beads at the top. She had orange colored eyes too. She wore a sleeveless orange Chinese top with a blue belt tied around her waist over blue knee length leggings. She had on gloves that were orange and outlined in blue. Though they are handless gloves they both differ in length. The one on her right arm starts off a few inches off her shoulders, where as the one on her left starts off an inch above her elbow. Her shoes are orange flats meant for battle. A pair of Sai were placed on the right side of her waist through her belt.

Her eyes widened with happiness and a smile stretched across her face. Her eyes sparkled when then met Ren's; Ren however, looked pale. His eyes held fear and disgust in them.

Everyone was confused, Ren's behavior and this girl's sudden appearance was, no question, the cause of all this.

"I… I finally found you…" the girl stammered out.

"Stay back!" Ren's voice was shaking.

"I was wondering if I would ever find you again…" Tears began to well up in her eyes. Her smile brightened even more.

"MY DARLING!!" She screamed tackling Ren all the way into, and through the table in the living area. It broke with the weight.

Everyone now was really confused. The girl continued to squeeze Ren as he tried to pry her off him in horror and desperation.

"REN! MY LOVE!" She squealed.

"GET OFF YOU DISGUSTING GIRL!" Ren snarled.

"Uhh…Ren? Who is this?" I asked, blinking twice in puzzlement.

"REN-KUN! MY HONEY!!" She exclaimed trying to smooch him. He blocked her attempts, still trying to push her away.

"GET OFF ME, PEST!!" He barked.

Anna, Tamao, Jun, Pai-long, and Manta came in to find out what the commotion was.

Anna took in the scene with a single glance, her eyes lingering on the broken table. "Yoh…you're paying for the broken furniture."

"WHA?!" Tears came streaming down my face.

"Ah, Meilin? Is that you?" Jun said.

"Hmm…" the girl looked up and smiled.

"JUN-SAN!" She jumped off Ren and ran up to Jun.

"How've you been?" The girl called Meilin asked Jun.

"Uhhh… who is this girl?" Manta asked.

"REN! INTRODUCE ME TO YOUR FRIENDS!" The girl chirped.

"Not on your life!" Ren growled.

"YOU'RE SO CRUEL REN-KUN!!" The girl sobbed.

"Oh Ren stop it…that's no way to treat your fiancée." Jun scolded.

The room went dead silent. Everyone then took a breath before yelling, "WHAT?! REN?! FIANCEE?! YOU'RE ENGAGED?!"

Ren blushed out of embarrassment and anger.

A devilish smile stretch across Horohoro's face.

"You say one word, Baka Ainu, and I'll rip your head off!" Ren snarled.

Chocolove and Horohoro began to snicker, a ton.

"I MEAN IT YOU TWO! SHUT UP!" Ren yelled.

"I'm sorry, please excuse us!" Horohoro exclaimed as he and Chocolove ran into the bathroom. The two began to laugh hysterically… like two cackling hyenas.

Ren's face flushed red in anger. "Please Botchama, control your anger." Bason pleaded.

"I'll kill them!" Ren muttered, his hand clenched into fists.

The two came back in, still snickering.

"Sorry about that." Chocolove giggled.

"Ah, that was rich!" Horohoro said catching his breath.

"It's true. This is Meilin Fong, Ren's bride-to-be." Jun said, introducing the girl.

The girl smiled as two dragon spirits appeared behind her. One was gold, and the other was silver.

"Pleased to meet the friends of my dear beloved." She said, bowing.

"DO NOT CALL ME THAT!" Ren growled.

"A fiancée Ren? That's awesome! She's cute and nice. Nothing like-"

I was cut off by a poisonous aura that filled the air. I turned around and faced Anna.

"Nothing like what Yoh?" Anna spoke softly, but I saw the murderous intentions in her eyes.

"NOTHING LIKE MY BEAUTIFUL AND WONDERFUL BRIDE! WHO IS GRACIOUS… please don't kill me!" I said, bowing before Anna and clapping my hands together in a prayer.

"Make me lunch…and I might forgive you." Anna said, fire still behind her eyes.

"THANK YOU ANNA!" I said groveling at her feet, hoping not to incur her wrath again.

"MEILIN-CHAN!" A girl screamed running in. She had long black hair tied up in a ponytail. The outfit she wore kinda looked like a ninja's. A ninja spirit followed behind her.

"_Huh? Strange, I think I know that girl…but from where?" _I pondered as I felt a déjà vu.

"Huh?" the girl said staring at all of us.

All of a sudden Ryu appeared in front of her.

"Not again." Horohoro sighed.

"Hello my beauty. Would you like to be my girlfriend?" Ryu said grabbing onto the girls hands.

"HUH?!" She exclaimed.

All of a sudden Ryu had a purple aura shining around him…this aura made him levitate.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" Ryu yelled.

"WHO IS DOING THIS?!" Tokageroh shouted.

A little girl with white hair, in a white dress with black lace appeared behind the ninja girl. She was holding a teddy bear in her arms. Her eyes were glowing the same purple aura around Ryu.

"You are unworthy to please Onee-chan. For that you must die." She said emotionlessly.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! HANA-CHAN NO!!" The ninja girl panicked, waving her arms around.

"Put him down Hana-chan! Please! We don't attack strangers unless they attack first. And it's not nice to kill people just because they flirt with your big sister." The girl said.

"Well thought-out argument." Horohoro said with a sweatdrop.

"Sorry onee-chan." She said, setting Ryu back down on the ground.

"So sorry about all that." The ninja girl bowed. "My name is Aieko Isane, and this is my younger sister, Hanashiro Isane. I'm sorry she tried to curse your friend." The girl apologized.

"A curse huh?" Anna muttered, "I kinda like this kid."

I laughed nervously at Anna's statement as a sweatdrop appeared on Manta's and my head.

"Sorry." The girl said dully. The teddy bear's head twitched, and… laughed?

"I bet you all would look great covered in your own blood!" the bear cackled.

Everyone in the room except for the little girl-Hanashiro, her sister-Aieko, and Anna, turned white.

"DID THAT TEDDY BEAR JUST TALK?! AND THREATEN US?!" We all screamed.

Aieko laughed nervously as a fat sweatdrop appeared on her head.

"I take it you are all shaman too." Aieko said looking at all our spirits. She pointed to her own ninja spirit. "This is my Guardian Ghost, Shintaro."

She glared down at the teddy bear in her sister's arms. "And this evil coward who hides in the stuffed animal, is Oni, my sister's self proclaimed Spirit."

The evil bear laughed at Aieko and spit in her face.

"WHY YOU!?" Aieko snarled.

"Oni-kun, be nice to Onee-chan." The girl said dryly.

"But of course, forgive me Okami-san." The evil bear cackled.

Another girl came in. She had short red hair with a strawberry pin on the side. She was wearing a sailor style school uniform. Behind her was a fox spirit with 9 tails.

"Aieko-chan, did you find Meilin-chan?" The girl asked.

Ryu appeared in front of this girl, and kissed her hand. The girl looked very confused.

"Would you like to be my girlfriend, my enchanting beauty?" Ryu asked.

"Beauty?" The girl said, puzzled.

"BOOTIE!!" Chocolove screamed shaking his bum.

Horohoro lifted his foot and smashed Chocolove's face into the ground.

"Again with the annoying jokes?!" Horohoro snarled, removing his foot.

"You didn't have to be so rough?!" Chocolove cried, as he got up from the ground, as a bump appeared on his head.

The red headed girl started laughing. We all were shocked. She was laughing… AT CHOCOLOVE'S JOKE!

Chocolove and Mick's eyes well up with happy tears and they smiled brightly.

"YOU THINK I'M FUNNY!?" He said in awe.

"Don't get too excited, the brainless girl laughs at anything." Her fox spirit said.

"Watch…Watermelon." The fox said dryly. Sure enough the red head laughed again.

"See you're not funny, she's just stupid." The evil teddy, called Oni, said.

Chocolove and Mick had tears of disappointment streaming down their faces.

"So who's this?" I asked, pointing at the red head and her fox spirit.

"Oh, this is Ichigo Watase, and her spirit Kyubii." Aieko said introducing her friend and spirit.

Two more girls came in. One was tall. She had black hair in a low pony tail and tan skin, but her eyes were a deep green. She was wearing a Green shirt with a black line going from her neck down to her sleeve, and regular denim jeans with a black belt. She had on black sneakers outlined in green and black fingerless gloves. The other, had short blonde hair and blue eyes. She had on a sky blue halter top outlined in dark blue. Her skirt was a dark blue and so were her shoes. She had ankle high white socks and wore a sky blue headband. She was carrying a sky blue umbrella.

"What's going on here?" The taller girl said, looking at us with a hint of anger.

"Oh we ran into these shaman looking for Meilin." Aieko explained.

Ryu then appeared in front of the blonde girl.

"Excuse me, would you like to be my girlfriend?" Ryu asked.

The young blonde blushed and ducked under the table and as tears started to well up in her eyes.

"What the?" Ryu said.

"Hey!" The tall girl snarled at Ryu.

"Hmmm?" Ryu turned to her.

"Iola is a very shy girl! Don't take advantage of her! Make her cry like that one more time…" She grabbed Ryu by the shirt. "And I'll waste you!"

Ryu then smiled and pulled a rose out of nowhere.

"Would you like to be my girlfriend?" He smiled.

The girl blushed, but then her face turned red more out of anger and some very visable red anger marks appeared on her head.

"Why you!" She tossed Ryu out the door. "TAKE A HIKE YOU WOMANIZER!!"

"Nakoma!" Aieko screamed.

"What?!" The tall girl snapped.

"You can't just send a guy flying, even if he hits on practically every girl he sees." Aieko stated.

"Hmph!" The girl crossed her arms and turned away from Aieko.

"I'm sorry about all of this." Aieko said to us.

"These two are my other shaman friends, who live here in America." Aieko began, "This tomboy over here Nakoma Matthews." She said pointing to the rough tall girl. Then a giant bear spirit appeared behind the rough girl.

"And this is Tomokomo." Nakoma said.

A water-looking spirit appeared under the table, trying to consol the girl.

"This is Iola Morgan, and her spirit, Undine. Iola is pretty shy…" Aieko explained.

Horohoro bent down, smiled at the girl hiding under the table, and handed her a handkerchief.

"Here, use this to dry your tears." Horohoro said.

The girl, Iola, blushed, then burst out from under the table, ran out the door, screaming, "I AM NOT WORTHY OF YOUR COMPASSION!!"

"Huh?!" Horohoro sat there, dumbfounded.

Aieko let out a sigh.

"I'll go get her back." The water spirit Undine said.

"Ichigo-chan, Kyubii-san, go with her. I don't want Iola getting all alone." Aieko said with a sweatdrop.

"Ok!" Ichigo exclaimed enthusiastically, heading out the door, followed by her spirit.

**END OF CHAPTER!**

**XD! This chapter was half written by me, and the other half by MarHeavenAngel. And of course all of it was beta'd by Pharaohs Queen. **

**Pharaoh's Queen, I'm sorry if my mood-swings ruined your date because I demanded to get this done! GAH! I'M SUCH A (censor the next couple words I utter because I don't want to insult you with my language, Rin-chan and Sammy-chan)!! FORGIVE ME FORGIVE!!I SO SORRY!! I'M SUCH A IDIOTIC (censor) WHO NEED TO LEARN NOT TO BE SELFISH!! MY (censor)ness IS REALLY TERRIBLE!! GOMEN NASAI!! AND ARIGATO FOR BEING MY EDITOR!!**

**Rin-chan, I'm terribly sorry for waking you up too….forgive me for being such a (censor)bag!!**

**I love you both and my insane mood swings got the best of me, but shouldn't be an excuse! I'm sorry.**

**--**

**Botchama- Young Master**

**Ainu-Horohoro's race (a tribe from northern Japan.)**

**Baka-Stupid**

**Okami-san –Mistress**

**Sama- honorific (not as honorific as Dono but more respectful than San…basically it means Lord or Lady)**

**A/N: MarHeavenAngel is drawing fanart for this story as we speak, and she will draw Yoh's gang in their new outfits as well. (Minus Ryu and Faust because they have no new outfits…they just don't look right in anything else but what they have already worn.)**

**And if any of you are worried about a YohxOC, don't be….Yoh only belongs to Anna. No YohxOC.**

**But obviously there will be one-sided RenxOC (XD….poor Ren, he's just so much fun to tease though!)**


	3. The Return of Lyserg and the Maiden

**Title: The Fading Star**

**Authors: Phantom'sAngel89, MarHeavenAngel, & Pharaohs Queen**

**Beta Editor: Pharaohs Queen**

**Chapter 3: The Return of Lyserg and the Maiden**

**Disclaimer: MarHeavenAngel, Pharaohs Queen, nor I own Shaman King. Though as much as we want to….WE DON'T!! The only thing we own are the OC's, their Ghosts, and weapons….AND THIS PLOT!!**

**--**

**-Recap-**

_Aieko let out a sigh._

"_I'll go get her back." The water spirit Undine said._

"_Ichigo-chan, Kyubii-san, go with her. I don't want Iola getting all alone." Aieko said with a sweatdrop._

"_Ok!" Ichigo exclaimed enthusiastically, heading out the door, followed by her spirit._

_--_

**(Aieko's POV)**

"Well my name is Yoh Asakura!" Yoh said introducing himself.

"This is Manta, Jun, Tamao, Anna, Horohoro, Pirika, Chocolove, Ryu, Faust, and Ren over there is the one your friend is suffocating." Yoh introduced, "And these are our Guardian Ghosts. Amidamaru is mine." said Yoh.

"Nice to meet you." Amidamaru said.

"And I belong to Ren, I am called Bason." The Chinese warrior spirit introduced him.

"This is Kororo." Horohoro said pointing to his cute little spirit.

"Mick is my number one ghost!" Chocolove gesturing to his jaguar spirit.

"This is Pai-long." Jun said, introducing her zombie, who bowed.

"This is-" Ryu was interrupted by his spirit.

"I can introduce myself! I am Tokageroh!"

"My beloved wife, Eliza…" Faust said making googley eyes with his spirit.

"And this is Ponchi and Konchi." Tamao quietly said, introducing her rather odd raccoon and fox spirits.

"AIEKO-CHAN!!!!"

We all turned our heads to the door. And here came in Ichigo-chan, with Iola. She had Iola hung over her right shoulder like she was a boom box or something. Not exactly the way to hold a person… but its Ichigo-chan we're talking about.

"FOUND IOLA!!!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"I'm sorry." Iola said as Ichigo set her down.

I put my hand on her shoulder and said, "Hey, it's all right."

I turned to Yoh and his company and said, "Well we had better be off."

Meilin, who was squeezing the life out of her fiancée, whined, "AWW!!!! BUT I WANNA STAY WITH REN-KUN!!!"

"LET GO!!! GET LOST WHILE YOU'RE AT IT!!!" Ren barked.

"Meilin come on! Not now!" I exclaimed.

"WAAAAAAAAH!!!!" She began to cry and squeeze Ren harder.

Ren's face began to turn red… THEN BLUE!!!!

"MEILIN STOP!!! THE GUY CAN'T BREATHE!!!" I yelled. "Nakoma! Please get her off! We have to go if we wanna find a descent place to camp before sun-down!" I begged.

"All right." Nakoma said, cracking her knuckles.

Nakoma tried to pry the girl off the man she was suffocating inadvertently.

"Hey…" Horohoro said.

"What?" I asked.

"Why don't you guys stay here?" Horohoro said scratching his head.

"How about they stay here Yoh? I mean, it's probably not safe to camp in the mountains, there is probably wild animals and stuff." Chocolove agreed.

"We're shaman. I'm pretty sure we can handle ourselves." Nakoma said, continuing the crow-bar treatment.

"Hmmm… Well… this cabin has only has 3 bedrooms. We all were going to split up amongst ourselves and try to squeeze in those rooms…plus Lyserg should be here really soon. And I doubt he's going to be alone. He probably will be coming with either Marco or Jeanne. Maybe even both of them. I don't mind. But the only place left is on the floor and couches here in the living area." Yoh explained.

He then turned to his fiancée, Anna, "Besides, it's really up to Anna here." Yoh then beamed a smile at her.

"Fine, if they want to. But they have to sleep in the living area here." Anna said walking off into her bedroom.

"Wait a minute you guys! I didn't ask to stay! We'll be fine." I said.

"Nonsense, if Okami-sama says it's alright…and Danna agrees as well, then you should stay!" Ryu said with a smile.

"Are you sure?" I asked, feeling guilty.

Yoh nodded his head.

"Never mind Nakoma, looks like we're spending the night here." I said.

She let go of Meilin and Ren and came back to the door.

"WHAT?!?!" Ren screamed.

"YAAAAAY!!!!" Meilin squealed, smothering Ren with her cheek while squeezing him.

"All of our stuff was left outside. I'll go grab it." Nakoma said.

"HEY IOLA!"

"Uhh…yes Nakoma?" Iola flinched.

"Come help me with the stuff." Nakoma exclaimed walking out the door.

"Ok…" Iola said quietly, following after Nakoma.

"Hmmm…I'm hungry." Yoh said, staring at his growling stomach.

"Perhaps we should prepare some lunch; food is a great way to get to know one another." Yoh's samurai spirit - Amidamaru - said.

"Oh that's ok!" I said.

"Nonsense! I'm starving! Let's all eat!" Yoh exclaimed.

"But Yoh-kun, we don't have anything to eat!" Manta said.

"Hmmm…well, everyone still has American money that we saved from our last time here, right?" Yoh asked.

"How come Yoh?" Manta asked.

"So we can order some food to eat!!" Yoh beamed.

The boys pulled out whatever money they had in their pocked. They all handed it to Yoh…and he counted it.

"Hmmm…how much do we need to order a pizza or something?" He said looking at us.

Nakoma and Iola walked in with all our stuff. They set all the stuff in the living area. Nakoma turned to us and said.

"Look, if you want some pizza you'll have to order a lot. Since there's a lot of us here." She sighed. "Boys put your money away." She added.

"Huh? Why?" Yoh asked.

"Look… my mom is the owner of a pizza company called, Matthew's Pizzeria. I'll call her up, and she can get us a bunch of crap for free." Nakoma explained.

Yoh's mouth began to water, "REALLY?!"

"Yeah…so what toppings do you guys want?" Nakoma asked, taking out her cell phone.

"AWESOME!" Yoh exclaimed.

"Sausage! Pepperonis! And Ham… OH AND EXTRA CHEESE!!!" The boys were all screaming, the excitement of free pizza got to them.

"SHUT UP!!!" Nakoma yelled, dialing her mom's number.

She went into the bathroom, to talk to her mother, and shut the door behind her.

"This is great!" Horohoro said.

The excitement was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hey! I bet that's Lyserg!" Ryu exclaimed, running up to the door.

**(Yoh's POV)**

Ryu opened up the door as fast as he could. Standing in the doorway was our old friend, Lyserg and Jeanne, the former leader of the X-laws.

Lyserg sported his Green-Sherlock Holmes look-a-like outfit. He seemed to have gotten a little taller too. Jeanne was wearing a black dress with fancy white lace all around the dress, and white lace tied around her head. She looked like a maid almost. Must be a style from France, which is where she is from after all. She still had a soft and kind appearance about her.

"Lyserg!" Ryu gave Lyserg a big hug, so big that he lifted Lyserg off the ground.

"Ryu! I can't breathe!" Lyserg exclaimed.

"Oh! So sorry my friend!" He said, setting Lyserg down.

"And how is Maiden-sama doing?" Ryu asked Jeanne.

"I am well. Thank you. But please, call me Jeanne. Those days are behind me." She said.

"Well it's nice to have you here." Faust said.

"By the way Yoh… Who are they?" Lyserg said pointing to all the new faces.

"These are a couple of other Shaman, they're going to fight in the tournament as well. This is Aieko, and her spirit, Shintaro." I said pointing to Aieko and her ninja spirit.

"Nice to meet you." Aieko said pointing to her little sister, "This is my little sister Hanashiro and her spirit…is the evil demon living inside this freaking teddy bear."

"Stupid girl…" Oni spoke from within the bear.

"I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL!!!" Aieko shouted at the bear.

"Be quiet Oni-kun." Hanashiro scolded dully.

"The bear…spoke?" Lyserg said.

"Yeah, that's her Guardian Ghost. His name is Oni, he's a mean little one, so be careful." I laughed.

"My mother said she'll get one of the Pizzeria's down here to deliver the pizza. It'll be here in 45 minutes." Nakoma said coming out of the bathroom.

"That's great!" I said.

"You two ladies would look great covered in your own blood!" Oni said to Jeanne and Lyserg.

"Oh my!" Jeanne said, "How evil…"

"I'm a boy." Lyserg said, a small tic over his eye.

"NO WAY!!!!!" Nakoma and Aieko screamed.

"Yeah, Lyserg is a guy!" I agreed, then added, "Oh, this is Nakoma, and her bear spirit Tomokomo."

"That is Iola, and her water spirit, Undine. And she's Ichigo, her spirit is that fox spirit, called Kyubii." Horohoro said.

"LET GO!!" Ren yelled.

"Oh and that girl over there, her two spirits are called Yin and Yang. Her name is Meilin, she's Ren's fiancée!" I said.

"Fiancée? Wow, nice Ren!" Lyserg joked.

"SHUT UP LYSERG!" Ren hissed.

"Wow! What a cute fairy spirit!" Aieko said, pointing to Morphine, who was sitting on Lyserg's shoulder.

"Yeah, this is Morphine." Lyserg said.

"What about you, ummm…Jeanne right?" Aieko asked.

"Yes."

"Where's your spirit?" Aieko asked.

"Well my old one is gone…but my new one is too big for this cabin." She said, pointing to the Arch-Angel spirit that was sitting outside.

"So THAT'S what an Arch-Angel spirit looks like!" Aieko said.

"Her name is Eve. She is my Guardian Ghost." Jeanne said.

"What happen to your last ghost?" Aieko asked.

"Shamash was devoured by the Spirit of Fire." Jeanne said solemnly.

"Spirit of Fire?" Aieko looked confused.

"Aieko, didn't that guy have the Spirit that was made of fire? What was his name? Hao?" Nakoma asked.

Everyone stared blankly at the girls.

"You've seen him before? And lived?" Horohoro said.

"WHAT, YOU THINK WE'RE WEAKLINGS?!" Nakoma yelled, pissed.

"Nakoma calm down!" Ichigo said pushing Nakoma away.

"He was sure an egotistical one! Acted like he owned the world!" Aieko said in a huff.

"That's Hao alright." Chocolove said.

"Well you don't have to worry about him anymore." Lyserg said.

"Why?" Iola asked.

"He's dead." Jeanne said calmly.

"What?! How?! That guy was like a juggernaut?!" Aieko exclaimed.

"We had no choice… evil like him doesn't deserve to live. We had to give Yoh all our power in order to destroy him… or the Great Spirits would have been lost to him. And so would the world." Lyserg said.

"Wait! So you're telling me _he _was the nutcase that tried to take the Great Spirits by force?!" Nakoma said.

"Yeah." Horohoro said.

"Yeah, it was a tough battle, but my brother had to be stopped." I said.

**(Aieko's POV)**

"Brother?" I said.

"_Wait a second…he said his name was Hao Asakura, and Yoh's last name…of course they're related…and they look identical. I'm such a ding dong for not noticing! Dang, but to fight your own brother…and have no choice but to kill him. That's really harsh." _I thought.

"Wait a second!" I said, as reality hit me.

"What?" Horohoro said.

"Are you sure?! That he's dead I mean! That can't be right!" I said.

"Why wouldn't it be right, we saw it happen with our own eyes! AND GET OFF ME!!!" Ren screamed at Meilin.

"Because…there was a Shaman this morning, he had a huge fire spirit! He called himself Hao Asakura!" I exclaimed.

**-End of Chapter-**

**Man….cliffhanger….doncha hate those!**

**XP!!!!**

**Lol, please don't kill us! Btw! PLEASE REVIEW!! BUT NO FLAMES!!! Unless your Hao….XD**

**This entire chapter was written by MarHeavenAngel, posted by me…and forever beta'd by our dear Pharaohs Queen!**

**And a note from the dear Pharaohs Queen: hey everyone. Yeah, I live. Just to let you know that the slowness of the updating is also partially my fault… ^^; yeah… I'm in school, and this week was midterms… and I was hit by a car.**

**Makes life interesting, huh?**

**So yeah… gomen nasai and all that… which is why I haven't updated my own stories… that, and writer's block.**

***ahem***

**Love us and review please!!**

**Ok.....MarHeavenAngel here.....with some explanations.....  
**

**Danna-means Boss or Chief….Ryu always calls Yoh that.**

**Okami-sama: It is basically Lady Mistress….wait didn't we already explain this one?!**

**ok so that's about it.......JA NE^___^!!!!  
**


	4. Lost and Found

**Title: The Fading Star**

**Authors: Phantom'sAngel89, MarHeavenAngel, & Pharaohs Queen**

**Beta Editor: Pharaohs Queen**

**Chapter 4: Lost and Found**

**Disclaimer: MarHeavenAngel, Pharaohs Queen, nor I own Shaman King. Though as much as we want to….WE DON'T!! The only thing we own are the OC's, their Ghosts, and weapons….AND THIS PLOT!!**

**--**

**-Recap-**

"_Are you sure?! That he's dead I mean! That can't be right!" Aieko said._

"_Why wouldn't it be right, we saw it happen with our own eyes? AND GET OFF ME!!!" Ren screamed at Meilin._

"_Because…there was a Shaman this morning, he had a huge fire spirit! He called himself Hao Asakura!" Aieko exclaimed._

--

**(Yoh's POV)**

"You're joking…right?" Horohoro gaped.

Everyone in the room looked pale. I myself felt a bit nervous too. The mood was incredibly tense.

"I'm not kidding." Aieko said, glaring. She was upset for some reason.

"What…what exactly happened?" Jeanne said with concern.

Aieko just stared at the ground; she had anger in her eyes.

"Well…if you want to know this is how it all started out…" Nakoma began.

**(Nakoma's POV)**

_-Flashback-_

_We were all hiking in the mountains…there was patches of snow under the areas where the shade was._

"_Man I'm thirsty." Meilin whined._

"_Well we're out of water so get used to it!" I snapped._

"_Hey I have an idea!" Aieko perked up._

"_What?" Iola asked quietly._

"_How about I grab the canteens and find us a spring or river…or something. There's bound to be one on this mountain!" She exclaimed._

"_Hmmm…point taken." I said._

"_CAN I COME!?" Ichigo exclaimed._

"_Uhh…best if you don't help…you might hurt yourself." I said with a sweatdrop._

"_Come on Hana-chan, let's go find some water." Aieko said taking the canteens and setting her stuff down._

"_Ok Onee-chan." Hanashiro said in her usual emotionless tone and expression._

_Aieko took off and little Hanashiro followed after her sister._

"_Wait here guys! We'll be back!" Aieko yelled out before we couldn't see her or Hanashiro anymore._

"_Well, we might as well rest for a bit." I said._

"_Yeah!" Ichigo exclaimed flopping on the ground. We all sat down__,__ simply chatting amongst ourselves, and so did our spirits._

_My body tensed up, as did everyone else's; we all went silent. I felt something ominous in the air. It was Furyoku. Dangerous, powerful, and… full of hatred. I wanted to tell everyone we should run…but my body was frozen. I had sweat beating down my neck…was I afraid?_

"_What do we have here?" said a voice as smooth as the belly of a snake._

_We all turn to see a young man standing behind us… he looked about our age. Long brown hair, piercing dark eyes with a sense of coldness in them. His smile looked sincere…but I doubt he was. He smelt of fire. Fire that burned everything without remorse. I didn't like how he looked at us, like we were insects._

"_What do you want? And mind telling us who you are?!" I snapped._

_He just stared at us in silence, smiling. I hate that._

"_Well? You going to answer?!" I exclaimed. Just looking at him made my skin crawl._

"_Of course. My name is Hao Asakura. I'm going to become the next Shaman King. I'm short a few disciples though…so I came looking for some worthy shaman." He said so casually._

"_Disciples? You, the future King? Well somebody is a little TOO sure of himself!" I scoffed._

"_You think I'm joking?" He replied with a calm smile._

"_And what makes you think we would want to follow the likes of you?! Get lost!" I snapped again._

_His smile grew crueler. That REALLY made my skin crawl._

"_Nakoma…I don't like this." Iola muttered, tugging at my sleeve._

"_Now who said you were worthy? My disciples must be strong shaman. I'm here to merely test you. You don't look very strong…only the strong are allowed to live in my kingdom. All the weak ones must die." He said as a large red spirit appeared behind him._

"_What is that?!" Ichigo exclaimed._

"_That must be his Guardian Ghost." Meilin said in fear._

"_Let's begin the test, shall we…" he said, a rather sadistic smile lighting his face._

_The air grew very hot. I noticed the other girls began to pass out._

"_IOLA! ICHIGO! MEILIN!" I screamed…struggling to stay awake. _

_I felt like I was suffocating. Like the oxygen was disappearing from the air._

"_What…wh-what did y-you do?!" I stammered out._

"_The air is a perfect medium for the Spirit of Fire, wouldn't you agree?" He said with a smug smile._

"_Medium? So you stole all the oxygen for you and your spirit!" I said struggling to get up._

_Undine, Kyubii, Yin and Yang hovered over they're unconscious partners. I looked at Tomokomo and he nodded his head._

"_I'm going to take you down! OVERSOUL!!!! TOMOKOMO INTO THE RIGHT GLOVE!!!" I placed Tomokomo's spirit into the glove into my right hand. A large spiritual aura made my right hand appear huge._

"_Very good…you're still standing. And willing to fight back. But do you really want to throw your life away? Come with me, and I'll show you true power." He said._

"_OH, UP YOURS MR. FUTURE KING!!! I'M GOING TO WASTE YOU!"_

_-End of flashback-_

"You actually said that to Hao!?" Chocolove exclaimed.

"You're insane!" The short human, Manta, spat out.

"Like I care…" I said.

"Please continue." Lyserg said.

"Well…" I said drifting into my thoughts.

I began to recall the moments that happened next. Just thinking about it made my blood boil.

_-Flashback-_

"_Oh? So unwise…" Hao said coolly._

_I charged at Hao many times…only to miss him every time, and punch into the rocky dirt._

"_Are you going to continue with this futile struggle?" He joked._

"_SHUT UP! I'M NOT THROUGH!" I yelled, dragging my feet back up._

_Hao began to chuckle, which rose quickly__into laughter._

"_And just what's so funny?" I spat out._

"_I can tell just by looking at you. And I thought he always followed the rules." Hao said with a smug grin._

"_What are you going on about?" I said, giving him a sketchy look._

_Hao's smile grew cold again, and narrowed his eyes. He took a light breath, "You're his daughter, aren't you?"_

_Those words pierced through me like a dagger. I gritted my teeth and trembled in anger, the fact that he would even try to mention that I was related to that man just makes me want to explode._

"_I hate know-it-alls like you, WHO THINK THEY KNOW SQUAT WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT!!!" I screamed._

"_Quite the temper too; you really are like your father." Hao said, smiling._

_I was so mad, I just couldn't fight it anymore. I would have loved nothing more than to rip his head off!_

"_SHUT UP!! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!" I yelled, charging at Hao._

_His spirit punched me in the gut, sending me flying into a tree. _

"_Wrong…I know everything." He said smiling with that venomous grin._

"_Time I end your pathetic life." He said._

_I heard Aieko's voice in the distance before blacking out._

_-End of Flashback-_

"Hey Nakoma?" Lyserg said.

"Huh?" I snapped back to reality.

"What happened next?" Lyserg repeated.

"Well, I fought back. But it was no use. They guy was freaking strong. He knocked me out good." I said bitterly. "The last thing I remember hearing was Aieko's voice… hey wait a minute!!" I exclaimed.

"Aieko, you came to help us didn't you…which means you're the last person who saw that freak! Mind telling me why we all aren't wearing wings and halos right about now?" I said in a sketchy tone.

"Hey what's that supposed to mean?! Be glad you're alive!" Aieko said.

"What did happen though?" I said, inching closer to Aieko, staring at her suspiciously. "You're hiding something!" I exclaimed.

"Look…drop it!" Aieko hissed.

"Aieko…did my brother hurt you? Or say anything to hurt you?" Yoh asked.

Aieko flinched, but then calmed back down.

"No…it's nothing. Just forget it." She said staring at the ground.

"Will you spill already?!" I demanded.

"NO I WILL NOT!" Aieko shouted, shooting her head up, and glaring at me.

"If you will remain silent Aieko-dono, I shall not!" Shintaro, her ghost exclaimed.

"Shintaro…if you utter one word, I'll disown you!" Aieko bitterly muttered.

"I DON'T CARE! WHAT THAT MAN DID WAS VILE! I WILL AVENGE YOU MY LADY!!!" Shintaro exclaimed.

"Avenge you?" Amidamaru said.

Everyone looked at Aieko, who was red.

"Shintaro…!" She said bitterly.

"THAT DEMON DEFLOWERED MY POOR MISTRESS!!" Shintaro screamed with tears.

**(Aieko's POV)**

"HE WHAT?!?!" Everyone looked pale.

"SHINTARO YOU MORON!! NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" I screamed.

"What?" He blinked.

"Do you even KNOW what _deflowered _means?!" I said venomously.

"But of course I do." He said.

"Then WHY did you say it!? THAT'S NOT EVEN WHAT HAPPENED!!!" I yelled.

Shintaro glanced around the room, and noticed everyone looked scarred for life.

"Oh sorry…I didn't mean he _literally _did that. It was a metaphor if you will." Shintaro said with a sweatdrop.

"If you weren't already dead…I'd murder you for the mental images you just put in everyone's head!" I hissed.

"Please calm yourself my lady. Anyways…to continue where Nakoma-san left off." Shintaro said.

I sat down on the couch, growling mentally at Shintaro, and that jerk… Hao Asakura.

"So it all started when Aieko-dono and Hanashiro-dono found a stream to fetch us some water to refill the canteens." Shintaro started off.

_-Flashback-_

"_Ok, that's the last one! We filled them all! Want to go back Hana-?!" I froze. My whole body tensed up._

"_Is everything alright Aieko-dono?" Shintaro asked._

"_What is this?!" I said._

"_You sense it too Onee-chan?" Hana-chan asked._

"_Yeah, that's a scary amount of Furyoku. I wouldn't want to meet the shaman who has it!" I said wiping the sweat from my forehead. _

_Then I felt my friends Furyoku fading. My heart began to skip a beat._

"_Oh no!" I looked back in the direction from where we came._

_"__I have to do something."__ I thought while biting my lip._

"_Hana-chan…" I handed her all the canteens._

"_Listen to me… I want you to stay here. Understand? I have to go help them!" I said trying not to sound frantic._

"_Ok Onee-chan." Hana-chan said in a monotone._

"_Pfft…You'll just go and get them all killed." Oni said._

"_SHUT UP TEDDY!!" I yelled._

"_Oni-kun… be quiet." Hanashiro said._

"_Of course, Okami-san." He chuckled._

"_Let's go Shintaro!" I said turning to Shintaro._

"_Right." He nodded._

_I felt something tug at my wrist. I looked down and saw my sister. She looked worried… I'm in trouble if Hana-chan is showing any emotion on her face._

"_Please…be careful. I'm getting one of those bad feelings, Onee-chan." She said emotionlessly. She tried to hide her worry with her voice…but the look in her eyes failed her. Crap… if my little sister is worried, then I'm a goner._

"_Don't worry! I'll be fine!" I smiled to reassure her, and myself._

_I took off, running as fast as my legs took me. I looked in the clearing and saw a HUGE red spirit. There was a young man standing next to it. Something about him, his spirit that I felt, it irritated me. I didn't like it. He was creeping me out._

"_An elemental spirit?" I thought, "There's only like, 5 of those! I really am in trouble."_

_I saw all of my friends were unconscious. As I ran closer, I saw Nakoma get hit by that spirit, thrown into a tree._

'_OH NO! NAKOMA!!' I thought in panic, dashing forward._

"_Time I end your pathetic life…" The young man said calmly._

"_NO!!! DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!!" I screamed. I stood behind the shaman holding my sword up to the back of his throat._

_He turned and faced me. His eyes were dark, mysterious, calm yet-seemed so cold. He smiled at me cheerfully._

"_My, my, another visitor. So, you're allies with these weaklings?" He said with an irritatingly__calm and cool voice._

"_Those weaklings-are my friends!" I growled, keeping my blade fixed at his throat._

"_Just who the heck are you?!" I hissed._

"_I'm Hao Asakura, your future king…" he said smoothly._

'_Egotistical creep!' I thought._

_He grabbed to tip of my sword with his thumb and index finger._

"_So…do you wish to save them?" He said cheerfully._

"_Not wishing pal! I will!" I snapped._

"_Then why don't you show me what you can do?" He said calmly._

_I jumped back and gathered my Furyoku._

"_SHINTARO-OVERSOUL!!! INTO THE KATANA!!" I placed Shintaro's spirit into the blade. _

_As soon as I did, a weird look crept over that Asakura guy's face. His lips were smiling, but it was different. It was really creepy._

"_Interesting…this Furyoku seems familiar to me. I wonder…" He smiled with a smug look._

"_What are you so smug about!?" I charged forward. But he vanished into flames._

'_WHERE DID HE GO?!' I thought._

"_Over here." His voice came from right behind me. My eyes widened, I whipped around to strike but he vanished again._

"_Will you stay still?!" I yelled, frustrated._

"_Sorry, but that doesn't sound like fun." He appeared behind me again. I whipped around for another attack but he grabbed my wrist and began to squeeze it._

"_AHHH!!!" _

"_Sorry, but I'm afraid you're just no match for me. But you have spirit at least. Come with me." He said._

"_What?!" I said._

"_You could have so much more power. Your potential is wasted if you continue the way you are now. And so would your life become wasted if you trudge on like this: weak…" He began to squeeze my wrist harder, making me scream in pain, "And fragile…" he muttered._

"_Drop dead! I don't give a crap about power you freak!" I spat out between clenched teeth._

_He began to laugh. I admit, I looked confused._

"_You even behave like her too." He said with that creepy grin._

"_What the heck are you going on about?" I narrowed my eyes._

_He grabbed my chin and forced my head to turn to the right. He was staring at my neck for some reason? I noticed he was grinning that same creepy grin again._

"_The mark…so I found you after all." He said._

_I slapped his hand away and backed up to get some distance from the weirdo._

"_What do you think you're doing, CREEP!!" I exclaimed._

_He began to chuckle, he smiled eerily and narrowed his eyes._

"_You naughty girl, you've forgotten." His voice, though calm and pleasant, chilled me to the bone._

_A wall of fire appeared behind me. My eyes widened, my heart was racing… was he going to kill me?_

"_Aieko-dono, you should run!" Shintaro exclaimed through the sword._

"_Where to, dummy!?" I said, pointing out that I was trapped._

"_Aieko… so that is your name…" he said gripping my wrist again holding it back so I couldn't use my Over soul katana, "Come now, let's not be strangers..." he held my wrist even tighter, making me wince._

"_After all, we haven't seen each other for so long." He said with a cruel smile._

_He moved closer and placed his other arm around my waist, tightly, so I wouldn't escape. _

"_WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LET ME GO!" I demanded._

"_IF YOU HARM ONE HAIR ON MY LADY, I'LL MAKE YOU SUFFER A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH OR HELL ITSELF!!!" Shintaro always was a bit protective of me - he probably was just as stressed and afraid as I was._

_He chuckled, and began to hold me even tighter, "Let's get reacquainted, shall we?"_

"_What are you talk-" He silenced me with his lips, pressing them again mine. _

_My eyes widened in shock, I think my heart just stopped beating…_WHAT THE CRAP IS HAPPENING?! Is he…is he…IS HE ACTUALLY KISSING ME?!?! WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GREAT SPIRIT IS GOING ON?!?!

"_U SWINE!! I SHALL SEND YOU TO YOUR GRAVE… YOU FILTH-SLIME-PIG!!!" Shintaro yelled__uselessly from inside my katana._

_He broke the kiss, I was too SHOCKED and HORRORFIED to even move or speak. I just stood there, like a deer caught in headlights before it becomes road kill._

_Hao Asakura's body began to slowly vanish in the flames._

"_Thanks for the feast." He said with a coy smile._

"_DROP DEAD PIG!!!" Shintaro screamed. _

_I began to feel light-headed… then… well… I think I fainted._

"_ACK! AIEKO-DONO!!! I DIDN'T MEAN YOU!!!" I heard Shintaro scream before I completely blacked out._

_-End of Flashback-_

"I'm going to kill that man…" I muttered bitterly.

**-End of Chapter-**

**This chapter was written by me, some additions and partially edited by MarHeavenAngel, and Beta'd by Pharaohs Queen.**

**So, love us, review, no flames…**

**Pharaohs Queen: … finals suck. Greatly. At life. The universe. Everything.**

**MarHeavenAngel: (pat, pat) I know….I love you.**

**Phantom'sAngel89: (Hugs) I am forever grateful. Thank you…even though I know you were busy…and….uh….JA NE!!!!!!!!!**


	5. Oneechan

**Title: The Fading Star**

**Authors: Phantom'sAngel89, MarHeavenAngel, & Pharaohs Queen**

**Beta Editor: Pharaohs Queen**

**Chapter 5: Onee-chan**

**Disclaimer: MarHeavenAngel, Pharaohs Queen, nor I own Shaman King. Though as much as we want to….WE DON'T!! The only thing we own are the OC's, their Ghosts, and weapons….AND THIS PLOT!!**

---

_**-Recap-**_

_**(Aieko's POV)**_

"_DROP DEAD PIG!!!" Shintaro screamed. _

_I began to feel light-headed… then… well… I think I fainted._

"_ACK! AIEKO-DONO!!! I DIDN'T MEAN YOU!!!" I heard Shintaro scream before I completely blacked out._

_-End of Flashback-_

"_I'm going to kill that man…" I muttered bitterly._

_**---**_

"Wait, wait, wait…you fainted?" Horohoro said with a slight chuckle.

I shot him a cold murderous glare.

"Ok…so the creep kissed you. Like it matters…I mean guys and girls kiss all the time, so what's the big deal?" Nakoma said shaking her head.

"But it is a big deal Nakoma-san!! SHE WAS DEFLOWERED!!" Shintaro cried.

"Why must you keep saying that?! That's not even what the word means. Hao didn't steal her virginity." Nakoma said eying Aieko's frustrated spirit.

"You simpletons! You just don't get it do you! It is a metaphor! I'm well aware of what the word means! But he did deflower the innocence of my lady's lips!!!" Shintaro fussed.

"Wait…you mean?" Jun started off.

"That was…" Nakoma stared at me with wide eyes.

"Your…first kiss?" Lyserg said in shock.

I growled as my cheeks turned red.

"WAIT YOU MEAN IT WAS?!" Nakoma screeched.

Horohoro, Chocolove, Nakoma began to howl in laugher. Everyone else couldn't help but chuckle as well. A tick appeared over my eyebrow as I growled some more.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?!?!" I roared.

"Oh please…then I suppose all of you had your first kiss then…" I retorted.

Everyone began to quiet down…Horohoro and Chocolove looked embarrassed. So did Ren and Yoh…which surprised me.

"Wait? I thought you two would of by now?!" I said to Yoh and Ren.

"Just because I'm engaged to this leech doesn't mean I want her filthy lips touching me!!" Ren barked trying to pry Meilin off.

"REN-KUN!!!" She squealed.

"Uhhh…well, Anna says she wants to wait for the right moment." Yoh said nervously.

"_Looks like Anna even decides when she wants a move to be made…interesting." _I thought with a sweatdrop.

"Please…don't tell me none of you have EVER kissed before in here?" Nakoma snorted.

"Oh but I have…"Faust said making googley eyes with Eliza.

I noticed Jun and her companion, Pai-long, were blushing too.

"_What?! Don't tell me she has a relationship with a living corpse?!?!"_ I thought as my eyebrow was twitching.

A knock came on the door, breaking some of the tension I felt.

"Hey that must be the pizza!" Yoh said as he went to answer the door.

---

**(Hanashiro's POV)**

A few hours had past. Everyone had eaten their pizza and had decided to turn in for the night. Though it did take us a whole hour to separate Meilin from Ren. She was very stubborn and didn't want to leave him. But Nakoma managed to finally remove her from the young man. Yoh and his friends all went to their bedroom; while Onee-chan, I, and the other girls stayed here where Anna-san had instructed. Nakoma, Ichigo, Iola, and Meilin all slept on the floor. They curled up under their blankets, and rested their heads peacefully on the pillows. Their guardian spirits laid next to them, watching their partners sleep. My sister and I slept on the two sofas. I looked over at my Onee-chan. She was twitching a bit in her sleep. I wonder if she's having a nightmare.

I held Oni-kun closely as I watched her.

"You should sleep Okami-san." Oni-kun spoke.

"Be quiet Oni-kun…I don't want you to wake them." I whispered.

Shintaro, my sister's spirit appeared behind me.

"Are you worried?" He spoke.

"Yes…" I replied flatly.

"That girl is causing you nothing but trouble…" Oni-kun said in an irritated tone.

"How dare you?! It's not her fault! Aieko-dono is not trying to cause her sister worry! Hanashiro-dono is just being a good sister!" Shintaro whispered in annoyance.

"He's right Oni-kun. Be nice to Onee-chan. It's not her fault." I said.

"What a weak shaman. If she can't protect herself then she's a goner… she's suppose to be the older sister. She is supposed to protect you! Not the other way around!" Oni-kun retorted.

"Why you…" Shintaro twitched in anger.

"Be quiet Oni-kun." I replied dully.

"_I can't help it. For as long as I could remember I always felt I had to protect her. I don't know why… but I always felt like my purpose in life was to watch out for Onee-chan. And for that reason, I won't let anyone hurt her. I should have been there…that Asakura man wouldn't have upset her greatly had I not gone with her. I won't let anything hurt my Onee-chan!" _I thought as I stared blankly at my sleeping sister.

**(Hao's POV)**

I stared into the campfire, watching the flames dance and flicker around. I did enjoy this peace and quiet; nothing but the sounds of the wonderful mother earth surrounding me. The stars in the night sky, shining so brilliantly…the wind grazing against my face. The tress dancing with the wind… so wonderful.

"_But it'll be even more serene when the humans are gone for good. Then forever will Mother Nature be allowed to blossom and dance in her tranquil rhapsody."_ I smiled at that most joyous thought.

And then I sensed it: furyoku.

"Come out." I said turning to the bushes behind me.

I heard a little timid voice, it was shivering. Then I recognized the furyoku, and the small, fragile voice.

"Come on out Opacho." I said in a more gentle tone.

Little Opacho came hesitantly out of the bushes. She looked scared. And who could blame her? I did push her away like a fool. She was only worried for her master. I actually let my anger blind me; and I chased her away.

"H-Hao-sama…" She looked up at me, shivering. Her eyes were filled with tears.

I could sense her thoughts; I could feel what she was feeling. She was happy to see that I am alive, and excited that I'm here. She missed me. But she is sad, sad that I was angry with her. And scared, scared of me. Scared that I would turn her away again.

"Have you been following me?" I asked calmly, so I would not frighten her again.

"Is Hao-sama…angry with Opacho?" She asked, approaching me cautiously.

"I could never be angry with you…I let my cursed emotions trick me Opacho. It is I who should ask if you are angry with me…" I said, smiling at the little child. "You must have been so lonely while I was away." I pat her head.

"HAO-SAMA!!!" Opacho ran up and hugged me with her tiny little body.

"Opacho never ever mad with Hao-sama! Opacho happy! Hao-sama no hate Opacho! Hao-sama alive!!" She cried.

"I thank you Opacho. You are the only one who truly believed that I had returned. The others had not waited or came looking for me… but you did. When I become Shaman King, you shall be rewarded." I said staring up into the skies.

"Are the others going to be punished?" Opacho asked in a small voice.

"They will receive a small punishment for their transgression, but I will forgive those who wish to return and serve me. The unfaithful will not receive such rewards." I said calmly.

I stood up and looked down at Opacho, "Come, let us find the others, and maybe even new friends who wish to join our cause."

"YES HAO-SAMA!!!" Opacho squealed.

"_This time…I will reign as Shaman King. Watch out Otouto… I will not forget your sins against your own brother."_

**(Hanashiro's POV)**

I opened my eyes and let out a gasp.

"Is something the matter?" Shintaro asked.

"Yeah? You kind of dozed off for a minute?" Oni-kun said.

"Yes, I fell asleep…and I had a vision…" I said running my fingers through my hair.

"About what?" an unfamiliar voice said.

I looked up and saw Anna-san. She was standing in the doorway, in her red nightgown.

"Would you like to talk privately?" She asked.

"Yes…" I said dully.

"You stay here." I looked at Shintaro and Oni-kun as I set Oni-kun on the bed.

---

Anna-san and I quietly stepped outside on the front porch of the cabin. She quietly shut the door.

"So, what was your dream about?" She asked.

"It was about a little rabbit. The rabbit somehow got trapped in a fire. The rabbit was terrified of the fire…it didn't know how it was going to escape. There was a snake…it was watching the rabbit. It looked hungry…but the snake feared the fire. So it waited…waited until the fire either died down or if the rabbit was going to try and escape. When the rabbit did find away around the fire…that is when the snake snuck up behind the rabbit, and readied itself to strike." I spoke calmly, the memory of the dream still very clear in my mind.

"Then what happened?" Anna-san asked.

"Nothing else happened…for I woke before anything else could happen."

"Hmmm…you were afraid to see the rest of the vision weren't you?" Anna-san said.

I looked up her…she wore the same emotionless expression as I did.

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"That rabbit…I'll bet the rabbit in your dream represents your sister." Anna-san stated.

"Yes, you're right. She's going to face many dangers ahead, and it worries me. The fire, I have a feeling either it represents that man, Hao Asakura…or some other kind of danger that will approach her. And that snake…I have no idea who the snake represents…but the snake wanted to devour the rabbit…which means that there is someone out there…that wants to kill my sister." I spoke.

"Do you want to know how to better interpret the dreams?" Anna-san asked.

I looked up into her eyes… she has such strong eyes.

"I may not specialize in curses, but I am an Itako. I can help you—I can train you to become an Itako, and your connection with the Spirit World will be strengthened. Your visions can become much clearer than they are now." She spoke.

"Anna-san—or I should say, Anna-sama. I would be grateful if you would. My visions have always been centered around my family—mostly my sister, as well as her friends. But… I still haven't been able to ever interpret the events of my visions before the events happen. I don't want to understand after something has already happened. I want to know before. If you will to be my guide, then I will follow." I said.

"All right. Starting tomorrow, I am your sensei. Now go rest." She said opening the door.

"Understood." I said following her inside.

---

**(Yoh's POV)**

The morning had come, and Anna was set on all of us leaving immediately.

"Ah man… can't we stay another night?" Horohoro whined.

Anna shot him a cold glare, shutting up Horohoro immediately.

I simply laughed, and began to gather my things. I was a bit surprised that Anna suggested that Aieko and her friends tag along with us. But Anna said that Aieko's sister, Hanashiro, was going to become her apprentice. _Then again, _I thought. _Hanashiro is a lot like Anna—so it's not surprising they took a liking to each other._

After everyone grabbed their things, we all left to head to the closest town. We had to get some leads on where Patch village might appear this time. Plus, everyone was hungry, I wanted breakfast too. We ended up deciding that splitting up for the moment would be the best choice. Anna, Jun, Pai-Long, Pirika, Tamao and Hanashiro all stayed at some breakfast restaurant. Everyone else decided to split up amongst themselves to find a bite to eat, and see if they could get any news. Anna told us all to meet her in front of that breakfast restaurant by noon.

So we all split up. To Ren's misfortune, his fiancée latched onto him and was going to tag along with. Obviously, Ren hated that. Horohoro and Chocolove went off with themselves. Nakoma went off in her own direction by herself—she said she was going to find us a ride that would get us around faster. Iola and Ichigo went off together. Ryu and Manta went off to go get us some snacks for the long journey ahead. Faust obviously wanted some alone time with Eliza, and Aieko left with her ghost, Shintaro by herself. So naturally, Amidamaru and I did the same.

"Let's go Amidamaru! I'm starving!" I said, taking off running.

"Of course Yoh-dono." Amidamaru laughed, following behind me.

**(Aieko's POV)**

"Ok Shintaro! We've looked everywhere, but still no leads! I guess we should take a break and have some food." I said.

"Of course." My companion agreed.

I looked at small restaurant: it looked like a small-time family owned business. They say family meals are the best.

"Let's try here!" I said.

I opened the door without even looking inside. I was looking at my ghost and smiling, not watching where I was going. I ran into someone and fell down flat on my butt.

"Owww…sorry about that." I said rubbing my bottom.

I looked up to apologize again, and my face froze. My eyes were wide, and my jaw dropped. Sweat began beading down my face.

"_What?! HIM?!" _I screamed in my head.

The man I ran into was none other than that creep: Hao Asakura!

"Aieko-chan…what a pleasant surprise…" He beamed with a fake cheerful smile.

**-End of Chapter-**

**Ok….so this chapter was written by MarHeavenAngel, beta'd by PharaohsQueen, and posted by me!!! :D**

**Please love us and review!!! ;)**

**Ok…so explanation time.**

**You guys already figured out that by now, what –chan, -san, -dono, and –sama mean. And it's been established what Okami-san means.**

**Now for something new…which I'm sure you're aware of what it means…**

**Sensei-teacher….. (Wow, I'm sure everyone knows what that means)**

**Random Beta's note: *ahem* WHY THE CRAP IS IT RAINING IN JANUARY?!?! IN UTAH EVEN?!?!?!?!?!?!?! The weather is **_**very**_** screwed up here…**

**Phantom'sAngel89: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?! YESTERDAY IN TEXAS IT WAS 85!!! THEN TODAY IT DROPPED ALL THE WAY TP 42!!!**

**MarHeavenAngel: I miss Rain….and I miss the random Texas weather….it's been non-stop snowing for the past 2 days in Idaho…I WANT TO GO HOME!!!**

**Phantom'sAngel89: You have college…you'll come back in July.**

**MarHeavenAngel: I know…T-T**

**Phantom'sAngel89: Again…please review…and JA NE!!!**


	6. Never Kiss and Tell

**Authors: Phantom'sAngel89, MarHeavenAngel, & Pharaohs Queen**

**Beta Editor: Pharaohs Queen**

**Chapter 6: Never Kiss and Tell**

**Disclaimer: MarHeavenAngel, Pharaohs Queen, nor I own Shaman King. Though as much as we want to….WE DON'T!! The only thing we own are the OC's, their Ghosts, and weapons….AND THIS PLOT!!**

---

**-**_**Recap-**_

_Aieko looked up to apologize again and her face froze. Her eyes were wide, and her jaw dropped. Sweat began to bead down Aieko's face._

"_What?! HIM?!" __She screamed in her head._

_The man Aieko ran into was none other than that creep: Hao Asakura!_

"_Aieko-chan… what a pleasant surprise!" He beamed with a fake cheerful smile._

_-__**End of Recap-**_

**(Aieko's POV)**

"H-Hao?!" I stuttered quietly.

I heard Shintaro growling behind me, but I wasn't really caring about that. The scary creep who is probably the most powerful shaman in the world—the one who stole my first kiss, who had a very scary fire spirit—WAS STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!!

"Are you just going to sit on the ground all day, mouth gaping?" He laughed.

Shintaro appeared in front of me, growling at the powerful shaman.

"FLEE MY LADY!!! I SHALL KEEP THIS CREETIN FROM TOUCHING YOU!!!" he screamed, taking a defensive fighting stance.

"_Shintaro…you baka." _I thought as my cheeks grew red from embarrassment.

"You shall never sexually harass my lady again!" He hissed at Hao.

"_Why does my spirit have to be embarrassing?! He acts worse than my father!" _I thought, sighing, getting up and dusting myself off.

"Aieko-chan, what an amusing pet you have." Hao beamed a sarcastic smile.

"Pet…? PEEET?!?!" Shintaro screamed again as he twitched in anger.

"_This is just great! Now his honor has been insulted. Now he'll never let this go!" _I grumbled in my thoughts.

"AND STOP CALLING HER AIEKO-CHAN!!! A PIG LIKE YOU DOES NOT EVEN COME CLOSE TO SPEAK TO HER ON SUCH FRIENDLY TERMS!!!" Shintaro yelled.

"_Sometimes I wish he would shut up… he's so embarrassing." _I thought with a sweatdrop.

"Interesting… so the pet wishes to order me around?" Hao said with a casual and calm tone.

"You insolent brat… I SHALL SEND YOU TO YOUR GRAVE!!!" Shintaro fumed.

"_Why does he have to pick a fight with Hao Asakura of ALL people?! Is he trying to get me barb-a-qued?!?!" _I thought as my eyebrow twitched.

I noticed Hao gave me a tiny smirk.

"_Huh?"_ I thought.

"WHAT?! STOP LOOKING AT AIEKO-DONO!! DON'T YOU TRY AND IGNORE ME!!" Shintaro screamed.

Hao took a couple of steps forward towards me. I stepped back, scared of what he was going to do. I have no clue what he was thinking—or what he wants.

"Don't you DARE touch my lady!!!" Shintaro hissed.

Hao smiled again at me; it was calm, but suspicious, "You needn't worry so much Aieko-chan. I will not get into any unnecessary quarrels with you, even if your guardian ghost is a fool."

"A FOOL?! WHY YOU ARROGANT WHELP!!!" Shintaro fumed; red anger marks appeared all over his body. He was shaking with hatred.

"How did you…?" I paused and thought, "_No… even for someone at his level, that's crazy."_

Hao smiled cheerfully, "What's crazy Aieko-chan?"

"_What the?!"_ I mentally gasped.

"Did you… just?" I paused.

"Read your mind." Hao finished with a smile.

"_No… no way. He can read minds too?!" _I mentally questioned.

"As a matter a fact I can. I can hear your thoughts clearly, as if you were talking to me." Hao said with an arrogant grin.

I stood there wide-eyed. I mean, as a shaman weird stuff happens all the time. But this is beyond anything I've heard of!

"Well if you can read minds… I'm sure you can hear my lady thinking she wishes for you to GET LOST!!!!" Shintaro yelled, pointing at Hao, his finger shaking in frustration.

"Actually, she's thinking how strange I am. She is amazed to find out that there is a shaman-who's achieved the power to hear thoughts." Hao said, still staring at me. It felt like he was indeed staring straight into my soul.

"Also, she is thinking that she wishes her ghost companion would shut up. It seems you embarrass her, Ninja-ghost." Hao said, smiling cruelly.

"WHAT?! YOU LIE!!! RIGHT AIEKO-DONO?! He lies… RIGHT?!" He turned to me in tears.

"_Well its true… he is annoying." _I thought, glancing at Shintaro.

"Aieko-chan, would you like to take this conversation somewhere this little insect won't be buzzing in our ears?" Hao asked with a cheerful smile.

"THAT DOES IT!!! THE PENALTY FOR INSULTING THE HONOR OF A WARRIOR IS DEATH!! I WILL KILL YOU WITH MY OWN HANDS, YOU BRAT!!!" Shintaro was so mad, his aura was on fire.

"Did you hear something?" Hao asked sarcastically.

"WHAT?! HOW DARE YOU MAKE A MOCKERY OF ME!!" Shintaro screamed, now breathing out fire.

"How annoying… Aieko-chan, how do you tolerate such a lowly human ghost?" Hao said with calm, yet cruel eyes.

Shintaro began to growl at Hao, gritting his teeth. Hao turned and stared at my ghost with those cold onyx orbs.

An icy grin crawled onto his face, "Perhaps I should rid you of his pathetic existence?"

"_No… Shintaro!"_ I thought fearfully as a single drop of sweat fell from my face.

"HAO-SAMA!!!" A voice of a little child suddenly cried out.

A little girl came running down the hill towards Hao. She was a dark-skinned with dark hair poofed up in an afro. She was really cute. A huge smile was on her face as she jumped next to Hao, staring up at him.

"OPACHO FOUND HAO-SAMA!" she said with a triumphant smile.

Hao squatted down to be at eye level with her, "Yes you sure did. Tell me, do you have any important news?"

"YES HAO-SAMA!!" The little child squealed.

"Excellent… he's distracted! Now's my chance to strike!" Shintaro chuckled evilly.

"Shintaro…spirit-ball mode!" I growled lowly.

Shintaro transformed, and I grabbed the tiny little spirit, "Baka! Now's our chance to escape!" I took off running in the other direction as fast as I possibly could.

"NANI?! NO AIEKO-DONO! YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!! WE MUST DEFEND OUR HONOR!!!" Shintaro screamed.

"Just shut up… your honor is the only thing that got insulted." I snarled. "We're lucky to have escaped with our lives!"

"Aieko-dono? Are you angry?" Shintaro looked up at me.

"Not only did we have to run into that jerk, but I'm hungry, had to miss out on a meal, and you had to go and make an idiot of yourself!!! Don't you remember how powerful he was?! That's not the kind of person you pick a fight with!!" I said raising my voice. "If that little girl hadn't shown up and distracted Hao, I know for a fact that something bad would have happened to you! You're my partner! What you expect me to do if something had happened to you!?" I said as water began to well up in my eyes, even though I was angry with him.

A single tear fell down my cheek, "Dang it, now you've got me crying!"

"Forgive me Aieko-dono… I'm sorry to have worried you." Shintaro said softly, blushing in embarrassment.

"Baka… who said I was worried?!" My voice cracked.

I wiped away my tear and my spirit smiled back at me. "You know, you're no good at hiding your emotions from me."

I glared at Shintaro, then smiled, "Let's find the others. The further from Asakura the better!"

**(Hao's POV)**

"Oh, Hao-sama! Who was that lady? Why she run away?" Opacho asked me innocently.

"Hmmm?" I turned and saw they had both disappeared, "So, they left did they? Oh well, its no matter. Our paths will cross again soon enough."

"Who was she Hao-sama?" Opacho asked.

"An old friend." I said smiling at the little child.

"Lady and Hao-sama friends, like Opacho and Hao-sama friends?" Opacho asked in her little naïve voice.

I chuckled and answered, "It's a bit different."

"Different?" Opacho said, crossing her arms, with a puzzled expression on her young face.

"So Opacho… didn't you have good news?" I asked, changing the subject.

"HAI! Opacho found Luchist-san! Opacho also found the Hana-girls!!" Opacho exclaimed.

"Luchist and the Hanagumi. Good job Opacho. Let's go reunite with our old friends." I said.

"Hao-sama? Does that mean Luchist-san and Hanagumi are friends like Hao-sama and lady?" Opacho asked.

I began to chuckle even more, "No, that's different too."

"Opacho confused… why Hao-sama have different kinds of friends?" Opacho looked up at me in confusion.

"You'll understand when you're bigger. Now let's go." I said walking up the hill.

"HAI!" Opacho perked up.

**(3****rd**** person POV)**

Aieko panted as she ran as fast as she could from the restaurant. Shintaro was floating alongside her, Aieko finally having let him back into his normal form.

"Aieko-dono, you have been running for quite some time. I'm sure we are far enough away now."

Aieko glanced over at him. "Are you kidding me?! You can never be too far from that ba—"

"Aieko-dono, look—!"

_WHAM_!!!

"…out…" Shintaro finished, covering his face with a hand.

Aieko sat up, rubbing her face and moaning. Her moaning was joined with another voice and she heard a ghostly panicking through the new throbbing in her head.

"Yoh-dono! Are you alright? Please speak to me Yoh-dono!!"

"_Yoh… dono…?",_ Aieko looked over to the person she had run into.

Yoh Asakura lay moaning quietly on the ground, his hand tenderly rubbing a large bump on his forehead. "Oh, owwww… ow, ow, ow…" He sat up, still rubbing the bump, and looked over at Aieko. "Heh… you sure do run fast Aieko-chan!"

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry Yoh-kun! I wasn't looking where I was going!" Aieko hurriedly apologized as she stood up and offered a hand to Yoh. He took it, and she pulled him up. "I am truly sorry!"

Yoh grinned, the same easy-going grin that put people at ease. "No worries Aieko-chan. Where were you off to in such a great rush?"

Shintaro angrily opened his mouth.

"I-I was really hungry and I was looking for a good place to eat before we had to meet up with everyone again!" She lied before Shintaro could say anything. "I just don't want to hold everyone back, you know?" She added with a hand behind her head and a sheepish grin on her face.

Yoh smiled. "Why don't you come have breakfast with me then? I was heading to eat myself."

"R-Really?" Aieko stuttered slightly, then cursed herself silently for it. "You wouldn't mind?"

He smiled wider. "Nah, it's fine! The more the merrier, right? It'll be my treat!"

Aieko's fingers flew to her lips. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah!" He grabbed her wrist and started pulling her along. "Let's go!"

Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting in a booth by a window in a cozy little place, with their order on the way. Yoh leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head, dreamily staring up at the ceiling. Amidamaru floated behind him, his eyes closed and a peaceful look on his face. Aieko fidgeted with her fork and napkin. Shintaro glanced cautiously at Yoh every few moments.

"_That boy is the twin of that monster who scares my lady so!"_ Shintaro thought as he looked over at Yoh again. "_Now that he's with my lady, will he try anything?"_

Yoh looked over at Aieko, his eyes still slightly clouded with the dreamy trance he occasionally puts himself into. "You don't need to be so nervous." He said out loud. She looked up sharply. "The food here is great!" He grinned.

Her gaze softened. "Have you been here before?"

"Yeah… We all came here during the last tournament." Yoh's eyes flicked towards the ceiling as he reminisced. "It was very relaxing." He grinned at the memories.

A small smile lit Aieko's lips. Yoh's good nature was infectious.

A bouncy waitress with a large smile and even larger hair came up to their table, a large tray balanced easily in one hand. She set down a large stack of pancakes, a plate with several pieces of bacon and sausage, and a bowl of fruit in front of Yoh, setting down the plates with hardly a clink. Aieko received a plate with a larger-than-natural omelet, stuffed to bursting with different kinds of cheese and meat, and a small bowl of fruit for her as well.

She grinned happily at the two of them, her bright teeth sparkling. "Enjoy your meal!" She chirped in an oddly high-pitched voice, and bounced away.

"All right! Finally! I'm starved! Itadakimasu!" He clapped his hands together, and Aieko replied to the traditional opening of a meal, and they dug in.

A few minutes into their eating, Yoh took a pancake off his steadily shrinking pile and folded it into quarters. He placed it on the now empty sausage and bacon place, put a few pieces of fruit on top, and stabbed his extra fork into it. "For you Amidamaru." He said solemnly, clapping his hands together again.

The samurai ghost bowed to him. "I thank you Yoh-dono."

Aieko grinned, her fork working its way through the thick eggs. She had given her thank offering to Shintaro already that morning—a small wreath of quiet flowers and an orange—but she was slightly surprised that Yoh had the courage to give an offering in a public place—and in a foreign country too, one that did not follow their same customs. She told him she admired his bravery in that aspect.

He grinned, his cheeks turning slightly pink and his hand disappearing behind his hair sheepishly. "It's just something I do every breakfast. That way, I won't forget!"

"Even if you did, I wouldn't mind, Yoh-dono." Amidamaru replied, hovering closer to his offering. "I know you mean well."

Yoh's grin widened. "Thanks Amidamaru!"

Aieko smiled and took another bite. "This is really good food." She remarked after she had swallowed. "And such _huge_ servings too! I don't know if I can eat it all… but it's so delicious… I don't want to waste it…"

"May I have a taste?"

Aieko looked up in slight surprise at Yoh's innocent and earnest face. Shintaro's head also snapped up, "_He wants to share in my lady's food now?!"_

"Oh, sure!" Aieko cut a piece off for him and offered her fork full of egg, cheese, and meat. Yoh leaned forward.

"No!" The ninja ghost screeched. "No indirect kissing allowed!!"

Yoh looked at him blankly, his mouth still hanging open. A tic appeared over Aieko's eye. "Shintaro…" she growled lowly. "Spirit-ball mode." A wide-eyed black spirit floated where Shintaro had been.

Aieko shoved the fork into Yoh's mouth, then grabbed her spirit. "Would you just relax already?!" She shrieked as she threw spirit-ball Shintaro out the window next to their table.

Yoh laughed so hard he nearly choked on the sudden mouthful of omelet. Several people turned and gave the two of them odd looks. The humans in the room couldn't see the two ghosts, and many wondered if that black-haired girl was sane.

Spirit-ball Shintaro came rushing back through the window. "My lady, please—!" The rest of his plea was cut off as Aieko grabbed him again and started to squeeze.

"Shintaro, now's not the time to go all fatherly on me! Yoh is _not_ his brother! Why don't you try trusting him?!" She yelled as she threw him back out the window.

Yoh laughed softly, placing Aieko's fork back on her plate as she sat down in a huff. "He really cares for you."

She glanced up at him. "He's just really paranoid. _Too_ paranoid." She scowled. "It's almost suffocating sometimes."

"But he cares." Yoh smiled, moving his gaze out the window. "We tend to worry about those we love. The more we love and care for them, the more we wish to protect them from the dangers of this world. Shintaro's attitude may seem suffocating, but that just shows how much he truly cares for you, his mistress. He wants to keep you safe, and he wants you to succeed." He grinned back at Aieko. "His paranoia is just his way of showing it!"

Aieko blinked, the dropped her gaze to her omelet. "I guess… I've never thought about it that way before…"

Yoh looked at Amidamaru, then tilted his head out towards where Shintaro had been thrown. His ghost nodded and floated through the wall.

"Yoh…" He looked back at Aieko. She seemed to be wrestling with a question.

"Yeah?"

She glanced towards the rest of the people, then leaned over the table. "Why do you want to be Shaman King?" She whispered. "You're such a nice and relaxed person… why do you want the Great Spirit's power?"

Yoh leaned back in his chair, grinning at Aieko over his empty plates. "I want to live an easy life!"

Aieko leaned back as well. "That's it?" She asked, puzzled.

He nodded. "Yep!" His grin faded slightly. "That… and Anna wants to be Shaman Queen." His grin turned slightly nervous. "I don't want to break her dream."

Aieko smiled slightly back. "Yeah… we can't have an unhappy Anna."

"Why are you in the tournament?"

She blinked. Yoh was leaning forward, both elbows on the table, a look of innocent curiosity on his face.

"Well…" She started hesitantly. "I… I want to free the hearts of people." She looked out the window as Yoh had been a few moments earlier. "There is too much chaos and hatred in the world… I want to get rid of all that. If the people's hearts were pure and free from hate, the world would be a much better place." She looked back at Yoh, a little sheepish. "It sounds kinda cheesy, I know…"

The sledgehammer of déjà vu was dancing a jig in Yoh's brain, but try as he might, he just _couldn't _place where he had heard that before. He chased it out of his mind and shook his head in response to Aieko's last comment. "No. That's a really beautiful dream actually!"

A tinge on pink appeared on Aieko's cheeks. "You think so?"

Yoh nodded and smiled again. "Yeah. I kinda wish my dream was as noble as yours."

She bowed her head. "Thank you Yoh-kun. You are very kind."

The two ghosts floated back through the wall to rejoin their shamans. Amidamaru nodded to Yoh's questioning look, and the boy's face softened. He had been worried about Shintaro, but Amidamaru had gotten almost as good as Yoh on calming down and cheering up others. Shintaro himself looked more relaxed than he had earlier.

Yoh leaned forward again. "Hey, Aieko-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to finish that?" He pointed at her omelet.

She laughed lightly and shook her head, pushing the plate towards Yoh. "Help yourself."

**(Aieko's POV)**

Yoh and I decided to take a short-cut through a park. It was really pretty. There was many trees, a small playground, a stone bridge over a stream, and some stone steps that went down the hill.

"That was a lot of fun!" I said to Yoh.

"Yeah… it was. We better head back… Anna said she needed us all to be there at noon. Never be late on Anna's watch!" Yoh laughed.

"Y-Yeah!" I said nervously.

"So… Aieko-chan, how old were you when you got Shintaro?" Yoh asked.

"He's a spirit that's been passed down in my family. I got him 4 years ago on my twelfth birthday." I smiled at my ghost.

"I was originally her father's spirit. But it has been a tradition for me to serve as a companion with the oldest child." Shintaro said.

"So what about the ones who give you up to the next shaman who inherits you? Won't they need a companion ghost?" Yoh asked.

"There are many spirits in our forest that our family has owned. Most of them are spirits of both ninja clans that served ours, or of our ancestors. When it is our time to give up our spirit, it is then you go to the forest and find a new partner. Although… since Hanashiro and I are the only children my father has had—and he was an only child—we have no male heirs. So Shintaro will be my ghost till I die. After all, passing on Shintaro is something only done in my family… and being a girl, I'll marry into another family someday." I explained.

"I see… so then I guess Shintaro will finally be able to pass on when that day comes, since then his duty will be fulfilled." Yoh said.

"What about you Yoh-kun? When did you and Amidamaru meet?" I asked with a smile as we were heading down the stone steps.

"I met Amidamaru three years ago, when I was 13. I knew he was a good person, so I asked him if he would be my guardian ghost." Yoh smiled.

"Yoh-dono is the one who saved me from my loneliness. I needed a friend… and then Yoh-dono came along." Amidamaru said.

"Amidamaru… don't be silly. You make me sound like I'm Buddha." Yoh laughed.

"You are to modest Yoh-dono." Amidamaru smiled.

I smiled and laughed with them. I really liked being with Yoh. Amidamaru was right: he's a good friend. Everything bad melts away when I'm around him. I mean, soon as I saw him—ah, ran into him—I forgot all about my frustration with Hao this morning.

"Yoh-kun… I think Amidamaru is right. You really are—AHHH!" I was interrupted as I tripped over a rock.

"Aieko-chan?!" Yoh turned to catch me.

Everything happened in slow motion. I thought that I was going to crash into him. But…

"MMMM!!!!!!" Yoh and I both screamed as my lips landed on his. Our eyes went white, and we both had sweat running profusely down our face. The two of us went tumbling down the stairs as I fell on top of Yoh.

"AIEKO-DONO!!!!" Shintaro cried… literally.

"YOH-DONO!!!! AIEKO-SAN!!! ARE YOU TWO ALL RIGHT?!" Amidamaru yelled.

I got up and looked at Yoh. He was redder than a tomato.

"I'M SORRY!!!!!!!" I screamed as I jumped off of him.

"Holy cow…" I muttered, I then placed my hands on my lips, my cheeks then turned pink, _"Oh my god… did Yoh-kun and I just… did we just… KISS?!"_

My thoughts then were interrupted by Yoh's screaming. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! ANNA IS GOING TO KILL ME!!! SHE'LL KILL ME FOR SURE!!!"

He turned to me, "NO, SHE'S GOING TO KILL US!!! WE'RE DEAD!!! DEADER THAN DEAD!!! WE'RE GOING TO HELL!!! SHE'LL SEND US THERE FOR SURE!!!!"

Amidamaru began to cry with Yoh. Reality then finally sunk in, "_Holy crap!!! Yoh's right!!! ANNA IS GOING TO KILL US!!!"_ I began to cry with Yoh and Amidamaru.

"WHAT DO WE DO?!?! AND YOU BETTER HAVE NOT ENJOYED THAT, ASAKURA!!!" Shintaro glared at him.

"Shintaro please! We have bigger issues! And Yoh is not like Hao!" I yelled.

"She's right! Yoh is not the kind of man to two-time! And that was an accident!" Amidamaru defended Yoh.

"OK! THIS IS WHAT WE'LL DO!" Yoh exclaimed.

"What?" Amidamaru, Shintaro, and I said, blinking twice.

Yoh grabbed my shoulders. He had fear in his eyes, and he was sweating a ton.

"WE SAY NOTHING! ANNA CAN'T KNOW IF WE SAY NOTHING, RIGHT!!! SO WE'LL SAY NOTHING!!! PROMISE!!!" Yoh said, his voice trembling in fear.

"Yeah!" I agreed, fearing what would happen if Anna did know.

**-End of chapter-**

**Well… It was nice knowing Aieko and Yoh… too bad I like Yoh… and I was starting to love our OC.**

**Explanation time.**

**Nani-What**

**Hai-Yes**

**Hanagumi-the 3 group of girls who are part of Hao's followers, they include; Kanna, Mari, and Maddy.**

**So the first part of this chapter was written by MarHeavenAngel… the whole brunch bit was written by Pharaohs Queen (the whole part in 3****rd**** person… ^^)… and the ending part with the… hehehehehe (I'm so evil) kiss was written by me, Phantom's Angel89 (although it was ORIGINALLY MarHeavenAngel's idea…but I typed that WHOLE last scene) And this chapter was Beta'd by Pharaohs Queen….**

**Love us… review… and JA NE X3**

**A random curious beta/author's wonderings: Just wanting to know… since all 3 of us worked on this chapter, which part did **_**you**_**, the readers, like the best? I'm just curious… this isn't a competition or anything, I just want to know which part you liked best and why.**

**Here's a recap of who wrote which part: MarHeavenAngel wrote the beginning, all the way up to where it goes into 3****rd**** person. I (PharaohsQueen) wrote the entire 3****rd**** person section, and Phantom'sAngel89 wrote from Aieko's last POV to the end.**

**Tell us what you think! ^^ *bows* thank you!**


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